[5 January 2011 – Hong Kong] Do you feel overlooked sometimes? Do you ever think your good work is not recognized? That’s exactly how Tubby the Tuba, a kid unsure of himself as he always plays a small role in the orchestra by playing “Oompah”, feels all the time. To see how Tubby gains his confidence after learning a beautiful tune from a bullfrog, bring your family to see the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HKPO) in Family Concert: “HKPO Meets Tubby the Tuba” on 21 and 22 January 2011 (Friday and Saturday), 8:00pm at Tuen Mun Town Hall Auditorium.

The first of the HKPO’s Family Concerts series this season, the concerts will be conducted by its Associate Conductor Perry So and narrated by First Associate Concertmaster Leung Kin-fung, with Principal TubaPaul Luxenberg as the featured soloist.

Apart from Tubby the Tuba, a playful work by Kleinsinger, the rest of the evening also includes Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee, Stravinsky’s Circus Polka (for a young elephant), J Strauss I’s Radetzky March as well as Peck’s exciting and educational The Thrill of the Orchestra.

This delightful program, which is suitable for children ages 3 and above, lasts for approximately 1 hour.

Perry So, conductor
Perry So joined the HKPO in October 2008 as Assistant Conductor and has become Associate Conductor since September 2010. In 2008, he received the first and special prizes at the Fifth International Prokofiev Conducting Competition, only the third time the top prize has been awarded. One of the inaugural Dudamel Conducting Fellows at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Perry So has just completed an extended six-week residency with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (conducting four concerts and assisting Lorin Maazel and Vasily Petrenko) and resulting in immediate re-invitation.

Paul Luxenberg, tuba
Paul Luxenberg, a native of Los Angeles, California, is Principal Tubist of the HKPO, a position he began in September 2001. Formerly, he was Principal Tubist of the Shanghai Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra (2000-01). Luxenberg is a founding member of United Brass, a New York-based large brass and percussion group and he has lived in Asia since 2000. He is a member of the HKPO Brass Quintet and an instructor of tuba at Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Leung Kin-fung, narrator
Leung Kin-fung was the awardee of the “Ten Outstanding Young Persons” in Hong Kong in 2002. Leung was the first Hong Kong musician to win the first prize at the “1992 Young Artist Competition” and “The 19th William Primrose International Viola Competition” in 1991. Since 2000, Leung has been the First Associate Concertmaster of the HKPO. He has also served on the faculty of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Family Concert: HKPO Meets Tubby the Tuba
21&22 | 1 | 2011
fri & sat 8pm
Tuen Mun Town Hall Auditorium
HK$120 $80
Available at URBTIX from now

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HKPO) is one of Asia’s leading orchestras. Enriching Hong Kong’s cultural life for over a century, the Orchestra has grown into a formidable ensemble of Chinese and international talents, attracting world-class artists to collaborate on its stage. HKPO annually touches the lives of over 200,000 music lovers through more than 150 performances including its extensive education activities for children and adults alike, and free concerts such as the popular Swire Symphony under the Stars, and regular broadcasts and telecasts. Outside of Hong Kong, HKPO has made a number of critically acclaimed tours in Asia and Europe. In the 2010/11 season, the Orchestra undertakes a China tour of Shanghai, Xi’an and Beijing under the leadership of Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Maestro Edo de Waart. The first of which is an Expo 2010 programme.

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra is financially supported by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
SWIRE is the Principal Patron of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra is the Venue Partner of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre